Medication management

ABSTRACT

Medication management is facilitated at least by accessing at least a portion of data, the data may identify medication sets to be taken by a user according to a schedule including time periods. Each of the plurality of medication sets may be associated in the data with identification codes and at least one of the time periods. A medication message may be output identifying a particular medication set of the medication sets to be taken at a particular time period of the time periods. An input identification code may be received, and it may be determined whether the input identification code corresponds to the particular medication set. A warning message may be output in response to it being determined that the input identification code does not correspond to the particular medication set.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of prior U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/156,503, filed Oct. 10, 2018, which is a continuation of priorU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/451,022, filed Aug. 4, 2014, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,133,848, issued Nov. 20, 2018, which claims the benefitof each of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/862,140, filed Aug. 5,2013, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/862,147, filed Aug. 5,2013, the entire disclosure of each of the applications cited in thissection is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patentdisclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patentfiles or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Some embodiments of the present invention relate to medicationmanagement. For example, some embodiments of the present inventionrelate to a medication management system that includes or referencesmedication identifiers or identification codes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Digital systems and devices which provide services to elderly clientsare available from a number of companies. For example, Independa™, ofSan Diego, Calif., provides services to enable organizations andindividuals to cost-effectively help the elderly remain independentlonger by providing social engagement, medication and appointmentreminders, and wireless health and safety monitoring. These features maybe provided using a system which includes a TV or tablet computerlocated in the elder person's home. Aspects of this system are describedin U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0179485 “Systems and Methodsfor Integrated Care Management” to Saneii.

A tablet computer, such as an Apple™ iPad™, is a one-piece mobilecomputer which uses a touch screen as the primary means of control.Tablet computers typically connect to the Internet using wirelesscommunications technologies, such as WiFi or cellular datacommunications. Tablet computers can use “apps” to provide manydifferent functions. For example, the RxmindMe™ Prescription/MedicineReminder and Pill Tracker of Walgreens Co., 200 Wilmot Road Deerfield,Ill. 60015, is a prescription reminder that uses multitasking to alertthe user when they need to take a prescription. It allows the user toenter all their prescriptions, setup reminders, and track when they havetaken them.

In order to track whether users are taking their medication, a pillboxcan be wired with sensors to create a “smart pillbox”, as described inthe article, “ORCATECH Living Laboratory”, AARP Bulletin, pp. 16-17(April 2012).

It is known to provide portable registration devices to assist in remotehealth care, as described in EP 2219515 “Method and System for ProvidingRemote Healthcare”.

It is known to use RFID technology to identify storage containers, asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,258,961 “RFID Reader Enclosure andMan-O-War RFID Reader System”.

However, there remains a need in the art for improvements in theabove-discussed technologies.

SUMMARY

At least the above-discussed need is addressed and technical solutionsare achieved by various embodiments of the present invention. In someembodiments a method for providing medication management is executed bya system including an input-output device system; a processor-accessiblememory device system; and a data processing device systemcommunicatively connected to the processor-accessible memory devicesystem and the input-output device system. The data processing devicesystem is configured at least by a program stored in theprocessor-accessible memory device system at least to execute themethod. The method may include accessing at least a portion of data. Thedata may identify a plurality of medication sets to be taken by a useraccording to a schedule including a plurality of time periods. Each ofthe plurality of medication sets may be associated in the data with atleast one of a plurality of identification codes and at least one of theplurality of time periods. The method may also include causing theinput-output device system to output a medication message whichidentifies a particular medication set of the plurality of medicationsets to be taken at a particular time period of the plurality of timeperiods. The method may further include receiving, via the input-outputdevice system, an input identification code, and determining whether theinput identification code corresponds to the particular medication setbased at least upon an analysis of at least a portion of the data andthe input identification code. Also, the method may include causing theinput-output device system to output a warning in response to it beingdetermined that the input identification code does not correspond to theparticular medication set.

In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of medication setsincludes only a single medication type. In some embodiments, at leastone of the plurality of medication sets includes a plurality ofmedication types.

The input-output device system may include a reading device configuredto read the input identification code from a medication.

In some embodiments, each of a plurality of medication containersincludes a cavity for holding one of the medication sets. At least oneof the medication containers may contain a liquid or cream medication.In some embodiments, the input-output device system includes a readingdevice configured to read the input identification code from one of themedication containers.

In some embodiments, the method includes causing the input-output devicesystem to output the medication message as an audio message.

The system may be contained within a single housing encompassing adigital device.

In some embodiments, the data is stored in the processor-accessiblememory device system.

In some embodiments, the method includes accessing, via the input-outputdevice system, the at least the portion of the data from anetwork-accessible storage device system provided by a remote server.

The input-output device system may include a network interfacecommunicatively connected to a network, and the method may includereceiving, via the network and the network interface of the input-outputdevice system, configuration instructions from a remote device; andconfiguring at least some of the data in accordance with theconfiguration instructions.

The input-output device system may include a network interfacecommunicatively connected to a network, and the method may includeestablishing, via the network and the network interface of theinput-output device system, a communicative connection with a remotedevice; and synchronizing at least some of the data with the remotedevice via the communicative connection.

In some embodiments, the input-output device system includes a networkinterface communicatively connected to a network, and the methodincludes transmitting, via the network and the network interface of theinput-output device system, a warning message to a remote device inresponse to it being determined that the input identification code doesnot correspond to the particular medication set.

In some embodiments, the input-output device system includes a networkinterface communicatively connected to a network, and the methodincludes establishing, via the network and the network interface of theinput-output device system, a communicative connection with a remotedevice in response to it being determined that the input identificationcode does not correspond to the particular medication set. The methodmay include establishing a video conference with the remote device viathe communicative connection in response to it being determined that theinput identification code does not correspond to the particularmedication set.

In some embodiments, the user is a first user, and the method includesidentifying that the input identification code is associated with a userother than the first user; and causing the input-output device system tooutput a message indicating an incorrect user in response to identifyingthat the particular user is other than the first user.

In some embodiments, the data identifies at least two different usersand a plurality of medications to be taken by the at least two differentusers, and the method includes causing the input-output device system tooutput medication messages to each of the at least two different users.

In some embodiments, the medication message includes medication dosinginstructions.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving input confirmationindicating that the particular medication set has been taken by theuser. The method may include modifying the data to account for the inputconfirmation. The modifying of the data may include modifying the datato include an indication of one or more medication dosages taken by theuser and at what time or times.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, via the input-outputdevice system, a second input identification code; prompting, via theinput-output device system, for user-input information associated withan added medication corresponding to the second input identificationcode; receiving, via the input-output device system, the user-inputinformation; and modifying the data to account for and associate theadded medication, the second input identification code, and theuser-input information.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, via the input-outputdevice system, a second input identification code; determining that thesecond input identification code corresponds to an on-demand medication;and receiving input confirmation, via the input-output device system andin response to it being determined that the second input identificationcode corresponds to the on-demand medication, the input confirmationindicating that the on-demand medication has been taken by the user. Themethod may include causing the input-output device system to outputdosing instructions for the on-demand medication in response to it beingdetermined that the second input identification code corresponds to theon-demand medication. In some embodiments, the method includes causingdata storage of an indication of the on-demand medication, a presentdosage taken of the on-demand medication, and a time at which thepresent dosage of the on-demand medication was taken by the user, inresponse to receiving the input confirmation.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, via the input-outputdevice system, a second input identification code; determining that thesecond input identification code corresponds to an on-demand medication;retrieving earlier dosages of the on-demand medication taken by the userwithin a time period; determining whether the earlier dosages of theon-demand medication taken by the user, if taken with an additionalpresent dosage of the on-demand medication within the time period, wouldexceed a maximum dosage; and causing the input-output device system tooutput a warning message indicating excess medication dosage in responseto it being determined that the maximum dosage would be exceeded.

In some embodiments a method for providing medication management isexecuted by a system including an input-output device system comprisinga network interface configured to be communicatively connected to anetwork; a processor-accessible memory device system; and a dataprocessing device system communicatively connected to theprocessor-accessible memory device system and the input-output devicesystem. The data processing device system is configured at least by aprogram stored in the processor-accessible memory device system at leastto execute the method. The method may include outputting, via theinput-output device system, a schedule template for medications, theschedule template including a plurality of time windows. The method mayinclude receiving, via the input-output device system, user-inputassociating particular medications with the time windows in the scheduletemplate. The method may include generating a medication schedule for aparticular user responsive to at least the user-input and storing themedication schedule in the processor-accessible memory device system.The method may include transmitting, via the network and networkinterface of the input-output device system, at least a portion of themedication schedule to a remote device; and receiving, from the remotedevice via the network and the network interface of input-output devicesystem, an indication of the particular user taking a medication inaccordance with the transmitted at least the portion of the medicationschedule.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, via the input-outputdevice system, second user-input pertaining to activities associatedwith the particular user; generating an activities calendar for theparticular user responsive to at least the second user-input; storingthe activities calendar in the processor-accessible memory devicesystem; transmitting, via the network and the network interface ofinput-output device system, at least a portion of the activitiescalendar to the remote device; and receiving, from the remote device viathe network and network interface of the input-output device system, anindication of the particular user completing an activity in accordancewith the transmitted at least the portion of the activities calendar.

In some embodiments, the user-input includes an indication of a startingdate and an ending date for one particular medication. The method maycomprise including the particular medication in the medication scheduleonly during the period between the starting date and the ending date.

Any of the features of any of the methods discussed herein may becombined with any of the other features of any of the methods discussedin herein. In addition, a computer program product may be provided thatcomprises program code portions for performing some or all of any of themethods and associated features thereof described herein, when thecomputer program product is executed by a computer or other computingdevice or device system. Such a computer program product may be storedon one or more non-transitory computer-readable data storage mediums.

In some embodiments, each of any or all of the computer-readable datastorage medium systems described herein is a non-transitorycomputer-readable data storage medium system including one or morenon-transitory computer-readable data storage mediums storing one ormore programs or program products which configure a data processingdevice system to execute some or all of one or more of the methodsdescribed herein.

For example, in some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium system comprises one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage mediums storing a program executable by one ormore data processing devices of a data processing device system, theprogram including:

accessing instructions configured to cause accessing of at least aportion of data, the data identifying a plurality of medication sets tobe taken by a user according to a schedule including a plurality of timeperiods, wherein each of the plurality of medication sets is associatedin the data with at least one of a plurality of identification codes andat least one of the plurality of time periods;

first outputting instructions configured to cause an input-output devicesystem communicatively connected to the data processing device system tooutput a medication message which identifies a particular medication setof the plurality of medication sets to be taken at a particular timeperiod of the plurality of time periods;

receiving instructions configured to cause reception, via theinput-output device system, of an input identification code;

determining instructions configured to cause a determination of whetherthe input identification code corresponds to the particular medicationset based at least upon an analysis of at least a portion of the dataand the input identification code; and

second outputting instructions configured to cause the input-outputdevice system to output a warning in response to it being determinedthat the input identification code does not correspond to the particularmedication set.

For another example, in some embodiments, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium system comprises one or morenon-transitory computer-readable storage mediums storing a programexecutable by one or more data processing devices of a data processingdevice system, the program configured to cause the data processingdevice system to execute a method including:

outputting, via an input-output device system communicatively connectedto the data processing device system, a schedule template formedications, the schedule template including a plurality of timewindows;

receiving, via the input-output device system, user-input associatingparticular medications with the time windows in the schedule template;

generating a medication schedule for a particular user responsive to atleast the user-input;

storing the medication schedule in a processor-accessible memory devicesystem;

transmitting, via a network and network interface of the input-outputdevice system, at least a portion of the medication schedule to a remotedevice; and

receiving, from the remote device via the network and the networkinterface of input-output device system, an indication of the particularuser taking a medication in accordance with the transmitted at least theportion of the medication schedule.

Further, any or all of the methods and associated features thereofdiscussed herein may be implemented as all or part of a device system orapparatus.

Various systems may include combinations or subsets of all the systemsand associated features thereof described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is to be understood that the attached drawings are for purposes ofillustrating aspects of various embodiments and may include elementsthat are not to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates a medication management system, according to someembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of a digital companiondevice, which may represent all or a portion of the system of FIG. 1,according to some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a front view of the digital companion device of FIG. 2,according to some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a medication management system, which may be aparticular implementation of the system of FIG. 1, according to someembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a medication management method, which may be executedby the systems of any of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, or FIG. 4, according to someembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6A-6F are examples of graphical user interface screens, accordingto some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7A-7D are examples of graphical user interface screens, accordingto some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8A depicts a weekly medication container assembly, according tosome embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 8B depicts a single medication container, according to someembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, some embodiments of the present inventionare described in terms that may be implemented at least in part as oneor more software programs configured to be executed by a data processingdevice system. Some or all of such software programs may be equivalentlyconstructed in hardware. Software and hardware not specifically shown,suggested, or described herein that is useful for implementation of anyof various embodiments of the present invention are conventional andwithin the ordinary skill of the art.

In this regard, in the descriptions herein, certain specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of variousembodiments of the invention. However, one skilled in the art willunderstand that the invention may be practiced at a more general levelwithout these details. In other instances, well-known structures havenot been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuringdescriptions of various embodiments of the invention.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” or “an example embodiment” or “an illustrated embodiment” or“a particular embodiment” and the like means that a particular feature,structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of thephrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or “in an exampleembodiment” or “in this illustrated embodiment” or “in this particularembodiment” and the like in various places throughout this specificationare not necessarily all referring to one embodiment or a sameembodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures orcharacteristics of different embodiments may be combined in any suitablemanner to form one or more other embodiments.

Unless otherwise explicitly noted or required by context, the word “or”is used in this disclosure in a non-exclusive sense. In addition, unlessotherwise explicitly noted or required by context, the word “set” isintended to mean one or more, and the word “subset” is intended to meana set having the same or fewer elements of those present in the subset'sparent or superset.

Further, the phrase “at least” is used herein at times merely toemphasize the possibility that other elements may exist besides thoseexplicitly listed. However, unless otherwise explicitly noted (such asby the use of the term “only”) or required by context, non-usage hereinof the phrase “at least” nonetheless includes the possibility that otherelements may exist besides those explicitly listed. For example, thephrase, ‘based at least upon A’ includes A as well as the possibility ofone or more other additional elements besides A. In the same manner, thephrase, ‘based upon A’ includes A, as well as the possibility of one ormore other additional elements besides A. However, the phrase, ‘basedonly upon A’ includes only A. Similarly, the phrase ‘configured at leastto A’ includes a configuration to perform A, as well as the possibilityof one or more other additional actions besides A. In the same manner,the phrase ‘configured to A’ includes a configuration to perform A, aswell as the possibility of one or more other additional actions besidesA. However, the phrase, ‘configured only to A’ means a configuration toperform only A.

The term “program” in this disclosure should be interpreted as a set ofinstructions or modules that may be executed by one or more componentsin a system, such as a controller system or data processing devicesystem, in order to cause the system to perform one or more operations.The set of instructions or modules may be stored by any kind of memorydevice, such as those described subsequently with respect to FIG. 1,FIG. 2, and FIG. 4. In addition, this disclosure may describe orsimilarly describe that the instructions or modules of a program areconfigured to cause the performance of an action. The phrase “configuredto” in this context is intended to include at least (a) instructions ormodules that are presently in a form executable by one or more dataprocessing devices to cause performance of the action (e.g., in the casewhere the instructions or modules are in a compiled and unencrypted formready for execution), and (b) instructions or modules that are presentlyin a form not executable by the one or more data processing devices, butcould be translated into the form executable by the one or more dataprocessing devices to cause performance of the action (e.g., in the casewhere the instructions or modules are encrypted in a non-executablemanner, but through performance of a decryption process, would betranslated into a form ready for execution). The word “module” may bedefined as a set of instructions.

The word “device” and the phrase “device system” both are intended toinclude one or more physical devices or sub-devices (e.g., pieces ofequipment) that interact to perform one or more functions, regardless ofwhether such devices or sub-devices are located within a same housing ordifferent housings. In this regard, the word “device”, may equivalentlybe referred to as a “device system”.

Further, the phrase “in response to” may be used in this disclosure. Forexample, this phrase might be used in the following context, where anevent A occurs in response to the occurrence of an event B. In thisregard, such phrase includes, for example, that at least the occurrenceof the event B causes or triggers the event A.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a medication management system 200,according to some embodiments of the present invention. The system 200may include a data processing device system 210, a data input-outputdevice system 220, and a processor-accessible memory device system 230.The processor-accessible memory device system 230 and the datainput-output device system 220 are communicatively connected to the dataprocessing device system 210.

The data processing device system 210 includes one or more dataprocessing devices that implement or execute, in conjunction with otherdevices, such as those in the system 200, methods of various embodimentsof the present invention, including the example methods of FIG. 5described herein. Each of the phrases “data processing device”, “dataprocessor”, “processor”, and “computer” and the like is intended toinclude any data processing device, such as a central processing unit(“CPU”), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a mainframe computer, atablet computer such as an iPad™, a personal digital assistant, acellular phone, a mobile device, a smart phone, or any other device forprocessing data, managing data, or handling data, whether implementedwith electrical, magnetic, optical, biological components, or otherwise.In this regard, while some embodiments of the present invention aredescribed herein in the context of one or more devices, such as a tabletcomputer, the invention is not so limited, and any other data processingdevice system may be used instead of or in addition to a tabletcomputer.

The processor-accessible memory device system 230 includes one or moreprocessor-accessible memory devices configured to store programinstructions and other information, including the information andprogram instructions needed by a data processing device system toexecute the methods of various embodiments, including the examplemethods of FIG. 5 described herein. In this regard, each of the stepsillustrated in the example methods of FIG. 5 may represent programinstructions stored in the processor-accessible memory device system 230and configured to cause a data processing device system to execute therespective step. The processor-accessible memory device system 230 maybe a distributed processor-accessible memory device system includingmultiple processor-accessible memory devices communicatively connectedto the data processing device system 210 via a plurality of computersand/or devices. On the other hand, the processor-accessible memorydevice system 230 need not be a distributed processor-accessible memorysystem and, consequently, may include one or more processor-accessiblememory devices located within a single data processing device.

Each of the phrases “processor-accessible memory”, “processor-accessiblememory device”, and the like is intended to include anyprocessor-accessible data storage device, whether volatile ornonvolatile, electronic, magnetic, optical, or otherwise, including butnot limited to, registers, floppy disks, hard disks, Compact Discs,DVDs, flash memories, ROMs, EEPROMs, and RAMs. In some embodiments, eachof the phrases “processor-accessible memory” and “processor-accessiblememory device” is intended to include or be a processor-accessible (orcomputer-readable) data storage medium. In some embodiments, each of thephrases “processor-accessible memory” and “processor-accessible memorydevice” is intended to include or be a non-transitoryprocessor-accessible (or computer-readable) data storage medium. In someembodiments, the memory device system 230 may be considered to includeor be a non-transitory processor-accessible (or computer-readable) datastorage medium system. And, in some embodiments, the memory devicesystem 230 may be considered to include or be a non-transitoryprocessor-accessible (or computer-readable) storage medium system.

The phrase “communicatively connected” is intended to include any typeof connection, whether wired or wireless, between devices, dataprocessors, or programs in which data may be communicated. Further, thephrase “communicatively connected” is intended to include a connectionbetween devices or programs within a single data processor, a connectionbetween devices or programs located in different data processors, and aconnection between devices not located in data processors at all. Inthis regard, although the processor-accessible memory device system 230is shown separately from the data processing device system 210 and thedata input-output device system 220, one skilled in the art willappreciate that the processor-accessible memory device system 230 may belocated completely or partially within the data processing device system210 or the data input-output device system 220. Further in this regard,although the data input-output device system 220 is shown separatelyfrom the data processing device system 210 and the processor-accessiblememory device system 230, one skilled in the art will appreciate thatsuch system may be located completely or partially within the dataprocessing system 210 or the processor-accessible memory device system230, depending upon the contents of the input-output device system 220.Further still, the data processing device system 210, the datainput-output device system 220, and the processor-accessible memorydevice system 230 may be located entirely within the same device orhousing or may be separately located, but communicatively connected,among different devices or housings. In the case where the dataprocessing device system 210, the data input-output device system 220,and the processor-accessible memory device system 230 are located withinthe same device, the system 200 of FIG. 1 may be implemented by a singleapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) in some embodiments.

The data input-output device system 220 may include a mouse, a keyboard,a touch screen, a computer, a processor-accessible memory device, anetwork-interface-card or network-interface circuitry, or any device orcombination of devices from which a desired selection, desiredinformation, instructions, or any other data is input to the dataprocessing device system 210. The data input-output device system 220may include a user-activatable control system that is responsive to auser action. The data input-output device system 220 may include anysuitable interface for receiving a selection, information, instructions,or any other data from other devices or systems described in variousones of the embodiments.

The data input-output device system 220 also may include an imagegenerating device system, a display device system, a reading device(such as a code scanner, RFID reader, camera, image scanner, or otherreading device), an audio generating device system, an audio transducer,a computer, a processor-accessible memory device, a network interface(e.g., network interface card or network interface circuitry), or anydevice or combination of devices to which information, instructions, orany other data is output by the data processing device system 210. Theinput-output device system 220 may include any suitable interface foroutputting information, instructions, or data to other devices andsystems described in various ones of the embodiments. If theinput-output device system 220 includes a processor-accessible memorydevice, such memory device may or may not form part or all of the memorydevice system 230.

The user interfaces of at least FIG. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F, 7A, 7B, 7C,7D or a combination thereof may be implemented as part of the datainput-output device system 220, according to various ones of someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a high-level diagram depicting a digital companion device 10according to some embodiments of the present invention. The embodimentsof FIG. 2 represent one or more particular implementations of themedication management system 200 of FIG. 1. For example, the centralprocessor 20, including its real-time clock 21, and the power supply 50may be all or part of the data processing device system 210, accordingto some embodiments. The non-volatile storage 22, the buffer memory 24,or both, may be all or part of the processor-accessible memory devicesystem 230, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, thenon-volatile storage 22, the buffer memory 24, or both, may be all orpart of the data input-output device system 220. The reading device 36,the user input interfaces 30, the display screen 40, the audio codec 46,the speaker(s) 44, the network interface 34, and the monitoring deviceinterface 32, may be all or part of the data input-output device system220, according to some embodiments. All of the arrows in FIG. 2represent communicative connections, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the digital companion device 10 is a tabletcomputer running the Android operating system. Examples of other typesof digital companion devices 10 that may be used in accordance with somevarious embodiments of the present invention include personal computers,hand-held computer (e.g., smart phones, PDAs, or digital media players)and digital televisions. In this regard, in some embodiments, the entiresystem 200 may be contained within a single housing encompassing asingle digital device (e.g., a stand-alone device), such as a tabletcomputer, a hand-held computer, or digital television. However, asdiscussed above, the system 200, the digital companion device 10, orboth need not be implemented by a single digital device contained withina single housing and, may, instead be implemented by more than onecommunicatively connected digital device. For a non-limiting example,the digital companion device 10 may be a stand-alone device that iscommunicatively connected to a remote server or remote server devicesystem, according to some embodiments. According to at least some ofthese embodiments, the digital companion device 10 may be used by apatient, such as an elderly individual, on various medications, to,among other things, assist in the patient's medication-taking process,and the digital companion device 10 may, among other things, communicatestatuses of the patient's medication-taking process to the remote serveror remote server device system, which may, among other things, theninform a caregiver of the patient of such statuses.

According to some embodiments, the digital companion device 10 may beconfigured by a caregiver and used by one or more home users associatedwith the caregiver. (It should be noted, however, that the presentinvention is not limited to any particular user or users, and, althoughthe present specification refers to examples of caregivers and homeusers for simplicity of discussion, the present invention is not limitedto users specifically responsible for caregiving or users operating adevice at their home.) The home user or users may be an elderlyindividual or couple living in a home, an apartment, an independentliving facility, or an assisted living facility. The caregiver may be afamily member, such as a son, daughter, or grandchild, or a friend orhealth assistant. According to some embodiments, one function of thedigital companion device 10 is to provide medication management for thehome user(s). This medication management ensures that the home user(s)take(s) the proper medications at the proper times. The digitalcompanion device 10 may be configured in conjunction with monitoringdevices 102 (an example of which is shown in FIG. 3, according to someembodiments) to, among other things, measure the vital signs of the homeuser(s), and to help ensure their safety. The digital companion device10 may be configured to confirm visits from individuals expected toprovide assistance to the home user(s), who are assigned identificationcredentials 106 (shown in FIG. 4). These visits may include visits frommedical personnel, elderly assistance personnel (e.g., “meals on wheels”drivers), housekeepers, and others who might visit the home user(s) on aregular basis.

According to some embodiments, the digital companion device 10 providesmessages to the home user or users while requiring minimal userintervention. The messages may include visible messages, such as text,graphic images, video clips, or animations, or may include oradditionally include audio information, such as speech, music, or soundeffects. In some embodiments, the digital companion device 10 isconfigured to be used by multiple users, and messages for a particularuser identify the user, for example by showing a picture of the user orby including the name of the user.

Referring again to FIG. 2, a central processor 20 in the digitalcompanion device 10 provides the overall control of the digitalcompanion device 10, according to some embodiments. The centralprocessor 20 is coupled (that is, communicatively connected) to one ormore user input interfaces 30, which enables a user of the digitalcompanion device 10 to respond to messages and to select operatingmodes, according to some embodiments. The central processor 20 may becoupled to a monitoring device interface 32, which facilitatescommunication with various monitoring devices 102 (shown in FIG. 4) inthe home. The central processor 20 may be coupled to a network interface34, which facilitates communication with the internet 120 via aninternet connection 110, which will be described later in reference toFIG. 4.

According to some embodiments, the central processor 20 is coupled to abuffer memory 24, which temporarily stores digital messages, such asdigital images, for display on display screen 40. The central processor20 may provide digital images to the display screen 40. The centralprocessor 20 may be coupled to audio codec circuitry 46, which isconfigured to process digital audio information and convert the digitalaudio information to one or more analog signals, which may be providedto one or more speakers 44. It will be understood that speakers 44 areone type of audio output device. Other types of audio output devices mayinclude an earpiece or hearing aid worn by the home user, and theinvention is not limited to any particular audio output device.

The user input interface(s) 30 may be provided using variousconventional user input devices and circuits. In some embodiments, theuser input interface(s) 30 include a touch screen interface provided onthe front surface of the display screen 40. In some embodiments, thetouch screen interface is implemented using IR emitters and detectors infront of, and facing parallel to, the display screen 40.

In some embodiments, the user input interface(s) 30 may include buttons;switches; or a pointing device, such as a computer mouse, a joy stick, atrack ball, or a track pad. In some embodiments, the user inputinterfaces 30 may include a remote control input device. The remotecontrol may include user inputs which replicate some or all of thefunctions provided by the other user input interfaces 30, such as thetouch screen or buttons. In some embodiments, the user input interfaces30 may include a voice recognition interface (including a microphone andspeech recognition processor) or a gesture recognition interface thatincludes a sensing device (such as a camera) which recognizes user handgestures or other user movements, or a face recognition interface whichrecognizes the faces of particular users.

The central processor 20 may be coupled to a non-volatile storage ormemory device 22, which may include, for example, flash EPROM memorywhich may serve as a program memory. In some embodiments, this programmemory is communicatively connected to the central processor 20 andstores executable instructions, such as firmware programs, forcontrolling the operation of the central processor 20. In someembodiments, non-volatile storage 22 may also serve as aprocessor-accessible memory device for storing a medication schedulediscussed in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the firmware programs stored in non-volatile memory22 may be updated or replaced by new firmware provided by systemmanagement server 130 (shown in FIG. 4) using the network interface 34.In some embodiments, other types of non-volatile memory, such as ReadOnly Memory (ROM), magnetic disk storage or optical disc storage, may beused. In some embodiments, the central processor 20 includes anadditional program memory (not shown), and the firmware programs storedin the non-volatile storage 22 are copied into the program memory beforebeing executed by the central processor 20.

According to some embodiments, the monitoring device interface 32 (FIG.2) communicates with a variety of monitoring devices 102, shown in FIG.4. The communications may be provided using a wireless or wiredinterface. In some embodiments, the monitoring device interface 32 usesa Bluetooth™ communications protocol to communicate with monitoringdevices 102. In some embodiments, Z-Wave™ or Zigbee™ communications isused instead of Bluetooth™, or in addition to Bluetooth™, to providewireless communications. It will be understood that in some embodiments,the monitoring device interface 32 may use other wireless or wiredcommunications protocols. In this regard, the arrows and FIG. 4represent communicative connections, according to some embodiments.

The monitoring devices 102 can also include safety related devices suchas a door monitor or door lock, a motion sensor, a panic button whichcan be operated by the home user in case of an accident, or a powercontrol. The power control can be used, for example, to ensure that acoffee pot is not left on for longer that a predetermined time.

According to some embodiments, a reader or reading device 36 in thedigital companion device 10 is configured to identify various objects,such as medication containers 104 and identification credentials 106, aswill be described later in reference to FIG. 4. In some embodiments, thereader 36 is a RFID reader which is used to read information from RFIDtags incorporated into the medication containers 104 and identificationcredentials 106. In some embodiments, the reader 36 is an optical readerwhich can read bar codes or other printed indicia on the medicationcontainers 104 and identification credentials 106. In some embodiments,the reader 36 is an optical reader which identifies the medication usingcodes printed on the medication or the color, size, or shape of themedication. In some embodiments, the reader 36 is an optical readerwhich also identifies the particular user of the digital companiondevice 10 using face recognition. It will be understood that in someembodiments, the reader 36 can use other technologies, such as amagnetic reader to read data from a recorded magnetic strip located onthe medication containers 104 and identification credentials 106.

The network interface 34 enables the digital companion device 10 tocommunicate over a network, such as the Internet. The network interface34 may be configured as a wired interface, such as an Ethernet cableinterface or a wired telephone modem. The network interface 34 may ormay also be configured as a wireless interface, such as a WiFi (e.g.,IEEE 802.11 WiFi standard) modem, a cellular modem, or a Bluetooth™modem.

In some embodiments, the network interface 34 provides a directconnection to the Internet, and is configured to read HTML (“HyperTextMarkup Language”) and to use TCP/IP (“Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol”). In some embodiments, the network interface34 provides a connection to a local area network, which may then providean Internet connection using a wired or wireless router or other type ofnetwork interface device, which either interfaces directly to theInternet, or to an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

The display screen 40 may display images using a soft-copy displaydevice, such as a color active matrix LCD (“Liquid Crystal Display”). Insome embodiments, other soft-copy displays are used, such as an OLED(“Organic Light Emitting Diode”) display, a CRT (“Cathode Ray Tube”), orvarious silicon-based displays. In some embodiments, the centralprocessor 20 is connected to a TV signal output port, such as an HDMIport (not shown), which provides a signal for display on a displayscreen which is separate from the digital companion device 10, such asan HDTV display screen (not shown).

A power supply 50 may convert the AC power supplied via a wall plug (notshown) to the proper DC voltages needed to provide power to all of thecomponents of the digital companion device 10. In some embodiments, thepower supply may include a re-chargeable battery, so that the digitalcompanion device 10 can be portable, thus allowing it to be used for aperiod of time without a connection to power.

The power supply 50 may include a power control circuit (not shown)which enables an active display mode for displaying messages and otherinformation on the display screen 40, and a reduced power mode whereinthe display screen 40 is turned off and does not display digital images.The power control circuit may be controlled by the central processor 20.The power control circuit may be configured to control the power toother portions of the digital companion device 10, such as audio codec46, buffer memory 24, and monitoring device interface 32. In someembodiments, the digital companion device 10 may be configured by thecaregiver to operate in the active display mode during certain hours(e.g., 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM each day), and otherwise to operate in thereduced power mode.

In some embodiments, the digital companion device 10 includes a motionsensor (not shown). The motion sensor may provide a signal to thecentral processor 20, which controls the power supply 50 in order tosupply power to the display screen 40 only when motion is detected. Thisconfiguration reduces the power wasted when displaying images if thereare no viewers in the vicinity of the digital companion device 10.

A real-time clock 21 in the central processor 20 provides a date/time ofday value. In some embodiments, the real-time clock 21 is manuallyconfigured by the caregiver while in other embodiments, the real-timeclock is configured using information accessed on an external devicesuch as a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server using the network interface34.

It will be understood that the functions of the central processor 20 maybe provided using a single programmable processor or by using multipleprogrammable processors, including one or more digital signal processor(DSP) devices. Alternatively, the central processor 20 may be providedby custom circuitry (e.g., by one or more custom integrated circuits(ICs) designed specifically for use in digital devices, such as digitalcompanion device 10), or by a combination of programmable processor(s)and custom circuits. It will be understood that connections between thecentral processor 20 and some of the components shown in FIG. 2 may bemade using a common data bus. For example, in some embodiments some orall of the connections between the central processor 20, thenon-volatile storage 22, the buffer memory 24, the monitoring devicesinterface 32, the reader 36, and the network interface 34 may be madeusing a common data bus.

FIG. 3 depicts a front view of the digital companion device 10,according to some embodiments. The digital companion device 10 mayinclude a stand 42 which may be used to support the digital companiondevice 10 so that the display screen 40 is easily visible. The digitalcompanion device 10 includes a reader 36 at the top middle, which isconfigured to read identification codes from the medication containers104 and identification credentials 106 shown in FIG. 3. In someembodiments where the caregiver communication device 132 is the same asthe digital companion device 10 or is the same type of device as thedigital companion device 10, FIG. 3 may depict a front view of thecaregiver communication device 132.

FIG. 4 is a high-level diagram depicting the medication managementsystem 200, which includes a configuration where a system managementserver 130 is communicatively connected over a network to the digitalcompanion device 10 and one or more caregiver communication devices 132to provide medication management to home users, according to someembodiments of the present invention. It will be understood that a largenumber of digital companion devices 10, located at many differentgeographically dispersed locations, such as different houses orapartments in a community, may be supported by the system depicted inFIG. 4. In addition, it should be noted that although examples areprovided herein with respect to particular configurations of the systemmanagement server 130, the one or more digital companion devices 10, andthe one or more caregiver communication devices 132, the invention isnot limited to such configurations, and such configurations may be moregenerally implemented by any particular device or combination of devicesin accordance with the description of the system of FIG. 1. Although thedigital companion device 10 is shown separately from the caregivercommunication device 132 in FIG. 4, such devices may be the same device,according to some embodiments, although the configuration of FIG. 4 canhave advantages in certain circumstances, e.g., where a company chargesa fee for use of the system of FIG. 4 and such company may operate thesystem management server 130 distinctly from the digital companiondevice 10, which may be personally owned by the home user, and thecaregiver communication device 132, which may be owned by the caregiver.The same applies with the system management server 130, where thedigital companion device 10 and the system management server 130 couldbe the same device, according to some embodiments, or the caregivercommunication device 132 and the system management server 130 could bethe same device, according to some embodiments.

According to some embodiments, the digital companion device 10communicates with a variety of monitoring devices 102, as describedearlier in relation to FIG. 2. For example, the residence of the homeuser(s) may include several doors which are monitored, or locked andunlocked, using safety-related monitoring devices 102. The residence mayinclude power controls which are used to control the power to a numberof appliances, such as a coffee pot, iron, or toaster oven. Theresidence may include monitoring devices 102 which measure vital signs,such as a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure meter, or a scale tomeasure the weight of the home user.

According to some embodiments, the reading device 36 in the digitalcompanion device 10 is configured to read information in order toidentify medication containers 104. In this regard, the reading device36 may be configured to read an identification code from one or more ofthe medication containers to input the identification code to thecentral processor 20. Each of one or more of the medication containers104 may include a cavity for holding a single type of medication, e.g.,many duplicate pills for a single prescription, or multiple types ofdifferent medications, e.g., one or more pills for each of a pluralityof prescriptions, to be taken during a defined time period. However, theinvention is not limited to pill-based medication or any otherparticular form of medication. In this regard, it will be understoodthat medication containers are not limited to holding pills, and in someembodiments may contain medications in the form of creams or liquids(e.g., sprays or drops). For example, the medication may take the formof eye drops, and the eye drop dispenser bottle may include anidentification code, such as an RFID or bar code, which identifies theeye drop medication.

Because in some embodiments any particular medication container cancontain one or more medications, it is sometimes referred to herein thata medication container includes a cavity for holding a medication set,where the medication set includes one or more medications.

It will be understood that medication containers may be provided invarious sizes and shapes, and can utilize various materials, which canbe, for example, transparent, semi-transparent, or opaque and which canalso be, for example, either rigid, semi-rigid, or flexible. Forexample, a medication container could be a clear, flexible, Ziploc™plastic bag, an opaque, semi-rigid cardboard box, or a prescription pillbottle.

FIG. 8A depicts an example of a simplified representation of a weeklymedication container assembly 80, which may represent a conventional“pillbox”, according to some embodiments, and which may be used toprovide all of the medications to be taken by a home user during a oneweek period. The weekly medication container assembly 80 includes sevencolumns of removable medication containers, with one column for each dayof the week. The weekly medication container assembly 80 includes fourrows of removable medication containers corresponding to four differenttime periods including a morning time period 84A, a noon time period84B, an evening time period 84C, and a bedtime time period 84D. Theweekly medication container assembly 80 therefore holds a total of 28removable medication containers, such as Thursday morning medicationcontainer 82.

It will be understood that weekly medication container assembly 80 couldhave a different number of daily time periods (e.g., only a morning timeperiod and an evening time period), and that that a bi-weekly or monthlymedication container assembly could be used instead of a weeklymedication container assembly. It will also be understood that themedication containers could be permanently fixed in the containerassembly, rather than being removable. It will also be understood thateach medication container could be provided as a separable (e.g.perforated) section of a flexible plastic web which contains themedications for each daily time period for a set period of time (e.g. amonth).

Each of the medication containers, such Thursday morning medicationcontainer 82, includes a cavity for holding medications (e.g., Avelox™,Calcium, Metformin, Prednisone, Tylenol, Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D3) tobe taken by the home user during a defined time period (e.g., Thursdaymorning), a cap that can be lifted to remove the medications, and anidentification code (e.g., an RFID, 1-dimensional or 2-dimensionalbarcode adhered to an underside of the cap or other location of themedication container, or any other tagging technology known in the art)for identifying the day of the week and the defined time period. In someembodiments, the identification code also identifies the medication(s)within the medication container cavity, the particular user of themedication(s), or both. A user identification may be particularlyhelpful when the digital companion device 10 is used by multiple usersin the same household.

As described earlier with reference to FIG. 2, in some embodiments theidentification code may be provided using an RFID tag incorporated intoeach medication container. In some embodiments, the identification codemay be provided using a bar code or other printed indicia on each of themedication containers, such as Thursday morning medication container 82.It will be understood that in some embodiments, the identification codemay be provided using other technologies, such a recorded magnetic striplocated on each of the medication containers.

FIG. 8B depicts an example of a single stand-alone medication container90. The medication container 90 includes a cavity 96 for holding aparticular medication set (e.g., Calcium), a removable cap 94, which maybe a child-proof cap, and an identification code 92, such as a bar codefor identifying the particular medication set. It should be noted,however, that the invention may utilize any tagging technology known inthe art for providing an identification code, even though FIG. 8B showsa 2-dimensional barcode.

According to some embodiments, the reader 36 in the digital companiondevice 10 shown in FIG. 2 is configured to read information in order toidentify identification credentials 106 shown in FIG. 3. Theidentification credentials 106 may include, for example, ID badges wornby particular individuals and may include, for example, the name andphoto of the individual. Each of the identification credentials 106includes an identification code which may be configured to identify theparticular individual providing assistance to the home user(s), or maybe configured to identify the home user. The identification code may beprovided, for example, using RFID tags incorporated into theidentification credentials 106 or using bar codes or other printedindicia on identification credentials 106, or using other technologies,as described earlier at least in reference to FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, the identification credentials 106 may be used toconfirm visits from particular individuals who provide assistance to thehome user(s). These visits may include visits from medical personnel,elderly assistance personnel (e.g., “meals on wheels” drivers),housekeepers, and others who might visit the home user(s) on a regularbasis. In some embodiments, the individual associated with theidentification credential is asked to position the identification codenear the digital companion device 10, so that the data confirming thetime of his or her visit may be stored in a memory, such as non-volatilestorage 22 or processor-accessible memory device system 230. This datamay be used to update digital records associated with the home user(s),to confirm that they have received home care, meals, or medicalattention on a particular day and time. It will be understood that thedigital records associated with the home user(s) may be stored in astorage memory, such as non-volatile storage 22 in digital companiondevice 10, or using a network accessible storage system, such as a harddrive or other digital storage device (not shown) included with, oraccessible by, system management server 130.

Returning to FIG. 4, the network interface 34 in the digital companiondevice 10 communicates over an internet connection 110 and the internet120 to a system management server 130 according to some embodiments. Insome embodiments, the internet connection 110 is provided by a wirelessaccess point in the home user's residence. In some embodiments, theinternet connection 110 is provided by a cellular data service using amodem located either in the digital companion device 10 or in a modemlocated in the home user's residence.

According to some embodiments, a system management server 130 is used bya caregiver to manage the medication related rules and behavior for oneor more home users of the digital companion device 10. The systemmanagement server 130 may permit the caregiver to create a medicationpattern for one or more home users, using his or her caregivercommunication device 132, as will be described later in reference toFIG. 4. The caregiver communication device(s) 132 may include anycomputer, for example, a smart phone or other mobile phone, a tabletcomputer, a portable computer, or a desktop computer.

The system management server 130 may be configured to communicate overthe internet 120 with caregiver communication device(s) 132, in order topermit the caregiver to configure an account for one or more home users,and to manage the rules and behavior for the medication management to beprovided to one or more home users.

In some embodiments, the system management server 130 stores one or moreelectronic addresses (e.g., an email address or a phone number)associated with the caregiver in a digital memory (e.g., a memory whichmay be accessed by the system management server 130, which may be all orpart of the processor-accessible memory device system 230). The systemmanagement server 130 may be configured to send messages to the storedelectronic address, which may be accessed by one or more of thecaregiver communication devices 132 associated with a particularcaregiver, in order to provide status or warnings concerning theparticular home user, or users, for which they are caring. For example,if a home user does not acknowledge the completion of a scheduledactivity, such as taking a medication, within a predetermined period,the system management servicer 130 may be configured to provide awarning message to the caregiver. This message may be provided, forexample, as an email, SMS message, phone call, or any other type ofelectronic communication.

In some embodiments, the system management server 130 communicates overthe internet 120 with an alert management system 134. The alertmanagement system 134 may be configured to alert security personnel ormedical personnel based on the rules provided by the caregiver andsignals from monitoring devices 102. For example, in some embodimentsthe alert management system 134 is associated with a home securitymonitoring company, and the system management server 130 may alert thehome security monitoring company, by communicating with the alertmanagement server 134 if the home user has pressed a “panic” button onone of the monitoring devices 102, or if one of the monitoring devices102 indicates that an exterior door of the home user's residence hasbeen left open for an extended period of time.

In some embodiments, the system management server 130 performs some orall of the functions of alert management server 134. For example, thesystem management server 130 may be configured to provide an electronicmessage to the caregiver communication device(s) 132 associated with aparticular home user, if the home user has pressed the “panic” button onone of the monitoring devices 102, or if one of the monitoring devices102 indicates that one of the doors of the residence of the home userhas been left open. In some embodiments, the caregiver communicationdevice(s) 132 of the caregiver for a particular user may be used toremotely unlock the door of the residence of the home user, in order toallow access by emergency personnel.

In some embodiments, the system management server 130 or the alertmanagement server 134 controls one of more of the monitoring devices102, by communicating with the digital companion device 10 over theinternet 120. For example, a door lock monitoring device may be unlockedat a particular time, to enable a particular individual providingassistance to the home user (such as a home care assistant or ameals-on-wheels driver) to enter the residence of the home user at ascheduled time, or to enable medical personnel or police to enter theresidence if a “panic” button has been pressed on one of the monitoringdevices 102.

It will be understood that in some embodiments, a residence may includetwo or more digital companion devices 10. For example, one digitalcompanion device 10 may be located in a kitchen and a second digitalcompanion device may be located in a bedroom or living room. The digitalcompanion device 10 may include a motion sensor, or may communicate withmotion sensor monitoring devices 102, to determine where the home useris located so as to conveniently provide information to the home user onthe nearest digital companion device 10.

FIG. 5 is a high level flow diagram depicting a method for providingmedication management, according to some embodiments of the presentinvention. This method may be executed by the system of FIG. 4 or thesystem of FIG. 1 under the direction of a program stored in acommunicatively-connected processor-accessible memory device system.

In provide schedule template step 405, the system management server 130provides a user interface to the caregiver communication device 132 topermit a caregiver to input medication information for one or more homeusers, according to some embodiments. This input may be accomplished,according to some embodiments, by the system management server 130outputting, via a communicatively-connected data input-output devicesystem (e.g., all or a portion of data input-output device system 220),a schedule template for medications to the caregiver communicationdevice 132. The schedule template may include a plurality of timewindows. For example, the schedule template may be configured to allow auser (e.g., a caregiver . . . note that the caregiver may be the homeuser him or herself in some embodiments) to define “time windows” duringwhich the home user should take medications, including a group ofunrelated medications, and permitting the caregiver to assign particulartime periods to each time window. For example, the caregiver may assignthe particular time period 8:00 AM to 8:30 AM to the “morning” timewindow, and assign two unrelated medications (e.g., Avelox™ andMelatonin) to the “bedtime” time window. In this regard, in someembodiments, the system management server 130 is configured to receive(e.g., from the caregiver communication device 132), via thecommunicatively-connected data input-output device system, user-inputassociating particular medications with the time windows in the scheduletemplate.

FIG. 6A is an example of a “medication events” user interface screenthat may be provided, at least in part, by the system management server130 via the internet 120 for display at a caregiver communication device132 as part of step 405. The user interface screen of FIG. 6A isconfigured to receive input from a caregiver to specify time periodsassociated with the time windows during which the home user should bereminded to take medications, according to some embodiments. The timewindows may be identified as “medication events” and may be scheduled atparticular times of the day. For example, FIG. 6A depicts three timewindows, including a morning medication event time window, which thecaregiver has set to have a start time of 8:00 am and an end time of8:30 am, an evening medication event time window, which the caregiverhas set to have a start time of 6:00 pm and an end time of 6:30 am, anda bedtime medication event time window which the caregiver has set tohave a start time of 9:00 pm and an end time of 10:00 pm. The caregivermay set “reminder” times for each medication event time window. Each ofthe medication event time windows may be modified by selecting theassociated “modify” link. This modifying may include adding additionaltime windows (e.g., a “noon” time window) or deleting one or moreparticular time windows if it is foreseen that no medications will needto be taken during that particular time window. In some embodiments,time windows may be defined to be different for different days. Forexample, the “Morning” time window may be set from 8:00 am to 8:30 amfor Monday-Friday, but may be 9:00 am to 9:30 am on Saturday and Sunday.

FIG. 6B is an example of a “modify medication event” user interfacescreen that may be provided as part of step 405, which is configured toreceive user-input from a caregiver including a start time and end timeof each medication event time window, in order to associate a particulartime period (e.g., 8:00 am until 8:30 am) with a particular time window(e.g., the “morning” time window), according to some embodiments. The“modify medication event” user interface screen may be configured toallow selection of (a) whether or not the completion of the event shouldbe tracked, (b) whether or not an alert should be sent to one of thecaregiver communication devices 132, using the stored electronic addressfor the caregiver, as described earlier in relation to FIG. 4, or both(a) and (b).

FIG. 6C is an example of an “add medication” user interface screen thatmay be provided as part of step 405, which is configured to receiveuser-input from a caregiver (e.g., username “joel”) to input informationabout a particular medication (e.g., Calcium) to be taken by aparticular home user (e.g., Lucy Silverman), according to someembodiments. In some embodiments, the user interface screen of FIG. 6Cis configured to be presented in response to the user (e.g., thecaregiver) reading (e.g., by way of a reading device like reader 36 inFIG. 2 communicatively connected to the caregiver communication device132) an identification code (e.g., 92 in FIG. 8B) from a medication ormedication container (e.g., 90 in FIG. 8B). For example, in embodimentswhere FIG. 3 depicts a caregiver communication device 132, the caregivermay place the barcode 92 in front of the reading device 36, whichoptically reads the identification code from the barcode 92 andtransmits such code to the central processor 20, according to some ofthese embodiments.

In this regard, in some embodiments, the identification code may bedistinct from (i.e., different than) a code (e.g., barcode) provided ona medication container by a manufacturer of the medication set ormedication container, because such code provided on the medicationcontainer might not resolve to or otherwise particularly identify themedication set. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the identificationcode read by the reading device (e.g., 36 in FIG. 2 to cause thepresentation of the user interface screen of FIG. 6C is defined (e.g.,either by way of the user's data entry into the user interface screen ofFIG. 6C or by predefinition, e.g., in a previously-produced catalog) toidentify at least the medication set that is desired to be added, e.g.,according to the user interface screen of FIG. 6C. In this regard, theuniverse of all identification codes that identify respective medicationsets may be stored in one or more databases in a processor-accessiblememory device system (e.g., 230 in FIG. 1 or a portion thereof) andaccessible by the system of FIG. 4, FIG. 2, or FIG. 1. In someembodiments, such identification codes are stored as part of themedication schedule discussed below.

In some embodiments, multiple identification codes may be associatedwith a single medication, and all of such identification codes may bedisplayed on the screen of FIG. 6C. For example, as discussed above withrespect to FIG. 8A, each identification code may be associated with aparticular day of the week and defined time period for a particularmedication set. For instance, the same medication set taken TuesdayMorning and Thursday Morning may have different identification codes forthe Tuesday Morning set and the Thursday Morning set, so that the systemis later able to know that the home user is not only taking the rightmedication set, but is also taking the right medication set for theright time period. Also as discussed above with respect to FIG. 8A, eachidentification code may also identify the particular user of themedication set. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the user interfacescreen of FIG. 6C may be configured to allow the caregiver to change theuser associated with the newly added medication (e.g., from Lucy tosomeone else).

Upon receipt of the input identification code (sometimes referred toherein as a “second input identification code”) via an input-outputdevice system (e.g., all or a portion of 210 in FIG. 1, such as areading device like reader 36 in FIG. 2), the data processing devicesystem 210 or portion thereof of the caregiver communication device 132is configured, according to some embodiments, to present the user, viathe input-output device system (e.g., by a display device like displayscreen 40 in FIG. 2) with the user interface screen of FIG. 6C as ablank template with blank data fields, except for the identificationcode data field (shown to the right of the “name of medication” datafield in FIG. 6C), which may display the input identification code readby the reading device in a manner not editable by the user (i.e., asrepresented with the grey background in the identification code datafield in FIG. 6C). This blank template state of the user interfacescreen 605 prompts the user for user-input information associated withthe medication set to be added, which corresponds to the inputidentification code. Then, according to some embodiments, the userinterface screen of FIG. 6C is configured to permit the caregiver toenter the name of the medication set, the strength and quantity of thedosage(s) to be taken, and to allow selection of the time window(s)during which the medication set should be taken, all in association withthe input identification code. This configuration enables the caregiver(e.g., Joel) who is associated with the particular home user (e.g., LucySilverman) to associate particular medication sets (e.g., calcium in theexample of FIG. 6C), by way of the medication set's associatedidentification code, with particular time windows (e.g., morning andbedtime) in the schedule template described in relation to FIG. 6A. Thisinformation, upon receipt of it by the caregiver communication device132 via its input-output device system (e.g., 220 in FIG. 1) is used into generate a new or modify an existing medication pattern andmedication schedule (e.g., create medication pattern step 410 and createmedication schedule step 415 in FIG. 5) to account for and associate theadded medication, the input identification code, and the user-inputinformation (e.g., the information in the data fields shown in FIG. 6C)for the particular home user (e.g., Lucy Silverman), according to someembodiments.

Although the example user interface screen shown in FIG. 6C is shown forentry of information associated with a single medication, it may beconfigured to associate such information with plurality of medications.For example, there may be multiple “name of medication” fields withrespective multiple strength and quantity/dose fields, all of which maybe associated with a same identification code, same time windows (e.g.,Morning, Evening, Bedtime), same dosage frequencies (e.g., “Howoften:”), same purpose, same special instructions, same warning, samestart date, and same ending date shown in FIG. 6C, according to someembodiments.

The “Add medication” user interface screen shown in FIG. 6C may beconfigured to receive special instructions (e.g., by way of the “SpecialInstructions” text box in FIG. 6C) associated with the medication, suchas dosage instructions or instructions on how to take the medication,according to some embodiments. These special instructions may bedisplayed to the home user on the digital companion device 10 at thetime at which the home user is scheduled to take the medication. Forexample, if the medication is a cream or spray, the special instructioncan describe where to apply the cream or spray, and how much cream orspray to use. The “Add medication” user interface screen shown in FIG.6C may be configured to receive a user-defined warning message (e.g., byway of the “warning message” text box in FIG. 6C) associated with themedication. This warning message may be presented to the home user atthe time at which the home user is scheduled to take the medication, orat another pre-defined time or under certain pre-defined circumstances.

The “Add medication” user interface screen shown in FIG. 6C may beconfigured to input a particular starting date and ending date for themedication. For example, a new medication may be prescribed for only alimited period (e.g., one week, or one month) to treat a particularillness. In this regard, the user-input received by the systemmanagement server 130 by way of the caregiver interaction with the userinterface screen of FIG. 6C may include an indication of a starting dateand an ending date for a particular medication, and the systemmanagement server 130 is configured (e.g., at least by a program) toinclude the particular medication in the medication schedule (step 415,discussed below) only during the period between the starting date andthe ending date.

It will be understood that additional user interface screens (not shown)may be provided as part of step 405 to receive user-input to inputinformation for medical related monitoring activities that should beperformed on a regular basis. These activities may include, for example,reminders to the home user to measure his or her blood pressure, to testhis or her blood sugar level at particular times or the day, or tomeasure his or her weight on particular days of the month.

It will be understood that additional user interface screens (not shown)may be provided as part of step 405 to receive user-input to inputinformation to remind the home user of other scheduled activities. Withthis information, according to some embodiments, the server managementserver 130 generates an activities calendar for the particular homeuser, to remind the user of scheduled activities using messages providedby the digital companion device 10. The scheduled activities mayinclude, for example, reminders to the home user to bring in the mail ata particular time of the day, or to take out garbage for pickup on aparticular day of the week. The scheduled activities may includereminders of the times of favorite daily activities (e.g., favoriteradio programs or TV shows). In some embodiments, the digital companiondevice 10 may be configured to allow viewing of the TV show or listeningto the radio program, using a built-in radio receiver or TV tuner, or byreceiving the program via the internet 120. In this regard, in someembodiments, the system management server 130 is configured to receive,via a communicatively connected input-output device system, user-input(e.g., “second” user-input, if user-input pertaining to the home user'smedications is considered “first” user-input) pertaining to activitiesassociated with a particular home user. In some embodiments, the systemmanagement server 130 configured to generate an activities counter forthe particular home user responsive to at least the user-inputpertaining to the activities associated with the particular home user.The system management server 130 may be configured to store theactivities calendar in a communicatively-connected processor-accessiblememory device system. With such an activities calendar, the systemmanagement server 130 may be configured to transmit, e.g., via a networkinterface and via the Internet 120 (or other network) at least a portionof the activities calendar to the digital companion device 10 (or otherdevice associated with the home user or even associated with thecaregiver). In some embodiments, the digital companion device 10 (orother device associated with the home user or even associated with thecaregiver) may be configured to transmit (e.g., to the system managementserver 130 or another device, which may be associated with the home useror caregiver) an indication of the particular home user completing anactivity in accordance with the transmitted at least the portion of theactivities counter.

FIG. 6D is an example of a “list of medications” user interface screenthat may be provided, at least in part, by the system management server130 via the internet 120 for display at a caregiver communication device132. According to some embodiments, this user interface is configured topresent to the caregiver a review of the medications to be taken by thehome user whose care he or she is managing. According to someembodiments, this user interface displays the names of the medicationsto be taken, along with the strength, dosage, days taken, times/day, andpurpose. According to some embodiments, this user interface isconfigured to allow the caregiver to modify the displayed informationusing the edit link following each medication in the list.

In create medication pattern step 410 of FIG. 5, a medication pattern isgenerated by the system management server 130 for the home user. Thismedication pattern may be displayed for review by the caregiver, as willbe described with reference to the example of FIG. 6E. FIG. 6E is anexample of a “pillbox view” user interface screen that may be provided,at least in part, by the system management server 130 via the internet120 for display at a caregiver communication device 132. According tosome embodiments, this user interface is configured to display amedication pattern. The medication pattern may include the medicationevent time windows (e.g., morning, evening, and bedtime) describedearlier in relation to FIG. 6A for each day of the week, as well as themedications to be taken by the home user (e.g., Lucy) in each respectivetime window for each day, as defined according to the “Add Medication”user interface screen of FIG. 6C, discussed above. Accordingly, in someembodiments, the data processing device system 210 (or portion thereof)of the system management server 130 is configured to generate themedication pattern at least by compiling and organizing the user-inputfrom at least the user interface screens of FIGS. 6A-6C. The “pillboxview” user interface screen of FIG. 6E is configured to guide theloading of a pillbox for the home user, according to some embodiments,where each day/time-window cell in FIG. 6C corresponds to a container ina pillbox. For example, the “Thursday morning” container 82 in FIG. 8Awould be loaded with one tablet each of Avelox™, Calcium Carbonate,Metformin, Prednisone, Tylenol, Vitamin B-12, and Vitamin D3.

In create medication schedule step 415 of FIG. 5, a medication scheduleis generated for the home user. In some embodiments, the medicationschedule is generated by the system management server 130 in response toat least the user-input received by the data processing device inresponse to step 405 (e.g., via the user interfaces of FIGS. 6A-6C). Inthis regard, in some embodiments, the medication schedule may be themedication pattern generated at step 410 (e.g., FIG. 6E), a portionthereof, or an alternate representation of all or a portion of themedication pattern. In this regard, steps 410 and 415 may be the samestep in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the medication schedulemay be a superset of the information presented in the “pillbox view”user interface screen of FIG. 6E, and, therefore, in some embodiments,the create medication schedule of step 415 and the create medicationpattern step 410 may have swapped positions in FIG. 5, such that themedication schedule is generated first, and the “pillbox view” userinterface screen of FIG. 6E is generated from the medication schedule.

In some embodiments, the medication schedule is represented by data thatidentifies a plurality of medications sets to be taken by a user (e.g.,“Lucy” in FIG. 6E) according to a schedule (e.g., a portion of which isshown in FIG. 6E) including a plurality of time periods (e.g., eachdate/time-window cell in FIG. 6E). In some embodiments, each of theplurality of medications sets (e.g., calcium in FIG. 6C as an example ofa medication set) is associated in the medication schedule data with atleast one of a plurality of identification codes (e.g., theidentification code shown in FIG. 6C) and at least one of the pluralityof time periods (e.g., the checked “Morning” and “Bedtime” check-boxesin FIG. 6C). Accordingly, in some embodiments, at least one of theplurality of medication sets comprises only a single medication type(e.g., calcium). In some embodiments, medications are prescribed orotherwise provided in groups of a plurality of different medicationtypes to be taken together are, e.g., provided in the same medicationcontainer. For example, the medications Avelox™ and Melatonin for thebedtime time window on Sunday in FIG. 6B may be provided in a singlemedication container with a single identification code providedtherewith or thereon, such that the medications Avelox™ and Melatoninfor the bedtime time window on Sunday in FIG. 6B are considered a singlemedication set comprising a plurality of medication types (e.g., Avelox™and Melatonin in this example). In this regard, different medicationtypes may be considered to be different medicines in some embodiments.In some embodiments, a group of multi-medication-type medicationcontainers, each one for each time period, may be provided by a pharmacyas a plastic web. Each multi-medication-type medication container in theweb may be separated from the remaining multi-medication-type medicationcontainers in the web using perforations. The web ofmulti-medication-type medication containers provides a plurality ofmedication sets using the multi-medication-type medication containers,and each multi-medication-type medication container may include its ownidentification code which identifies the respective medication setcorresponding to a particular time period.

In some embodiments, the data representing the medication scheduleaccommodates multiple home users, e.g., data describing at least thatshown in the table of FIG. 6E along with respective medication setidentification codes for each of a plurality of different users, whereeach of the different users has a portion of the medication scheduledata defining his or her own medication sets, respective identificationcodes, respective dosages, time windows, and schedule. For example, insome embodiments each of the different users is provided with adifferent web of multi-medication-type medication containers, and theidentification codes on each of the multi-medication-type medicationcontainers in each of the webs is associated with a particular user aswell as a particular time period. In some embodiments, the web ofmulti-medication-type medication containers for each user is identifiedusing a particular color (e.g. Red), name (e.g. Lucy), or image (photoof Lucy) printed on the multi-medication-type medication containers, andthe messages provided by the digital companion device 10 identify theuser (e.g. Lucy) and the multi-medication-type medication containeridentifier (e.g. “detach the next multi-medication-type medicationcontainer from the Red colored multi-medication-type medicationcontainer web”.

The generated medication schedule is stored by the data processingdevice system 210 portion of the system management server 130 in acommunicatively connected processor-accessible memory device system. Insome embodiments, at least a portion of the data representing themedication schedule is stored in or in a portion of theprocessor-accessible memory device system 210 (FIG. 1) within at least(a) the housing of the system management server 130, (b) a housing of adigital companion device 10, (c) a housing of a caregiver communicationdevice 132, (a) and (b), (a) and (c), (b) and (c), or (a), (b), and (c).In some embodiments where multiple devices store some or all of the datarepresenting the medication schedule (e.g., when multiple digitalcompanion devices 10, caregiver devices 132, or multiple digitalcompanion devices 10 and caregiver devices 132 are communicativelyconnected, e.g., within a single household or otherwise),synchronization, using any technique known in the art, among suchdevices may be performed. For example, the data processing device system210 or a portion thereof of the system management server 130, a digitalcompanion device 10, or a caregiver communication device 132 may beconfigured to establish, via a network (e.g., the Internet 120) and anetwork interface of the respective input-output device system 220 orportion thereof, a communicative connection with a remote device (e.g.,another computer of the system management server 130, another digitalcompanion device 10, or another caregiver communication device 132) forsynchronization of at least some of the medication schedule data.

From the perspective of the digital companion device 10, if at least aportion of the data representing the medication schedule is stored in alocal processor-accessible memory device system within the housing ofthe digital companion device 10, the receipt of the at least the portionof the data representing the medication schedule by the digitalcompanion device 10 may be considered a receipt of configurationinstructions from a remote device (e.g., the system management server130). In other words, the downloading of at least a portion ofmedication schedule data by the digital companion device 10 allows thedigital companion device 10 to configure or update or modify a previousversion of the medication schedule data stored by the digital companiondevice 10. In this regard, any of the data input via the user interfacescreens of FIGS. 6A-6C may be considered configuration instructions bywhich medication schedule data is configured, according to someembodiments.

From the perspective of the digital companion device 10, if at least aportion of the data representing the medication schedule is stored in alocal processor-accessible memory device system within the housing ofthe digital companion device 10, the data processing device system 210or a portion thereof (e.g., central processor 20) of the digitalcompanion device 10 may be configured to access the at least the portionof such data from the local processor-accessible memory device system.

If at least a portion of the data is stored in a network-accessiblestorage device system provided by a remote server (e.g., is stored in aprocessor-accessible memory device system of the system managementserver 130), the data processing device system (e.g., central processor20) of the digital companion device 10 may be configured to access theat least the portion of such data from the network-accessible storagedevice system provided by the remote server via a network interface(e.g., 34 in FIG. 2) of the input-output device system (e.g., 220 inFIG. 1) of the digital companion device 10.

In some embodiments, the medication schedule may be automaticallygenerated or updated on a daily basis (e.g., each morning at 1:00 am)responsive to the medication pattern which has been input by thecaregiver, as reflected in the pillbox view depicted in FIG. 6E for thatparticular day. It will be understood that in some embodiments, themedication schedule may be automatically generated or updated on aweekly or monthly basis, or may be generated or updated at the start ofeach medication event or when a new medication is added (e.g., the userinterface screen of FIG. 6C) or information associated with an existingmedication is changed.

FIG. 6F is an example of a “calendar” user interface screen that may beprovided, at least in part, by the system management server 130, andwhich is configured to display a schedule for a particular home user(e.g., Lucy Silverman) for a particular date (Jul. 19, 2013), accordingto some embodiments. This schedule may represent the previouslydiscussed activities calendar, and the user interface producing thescreen of FIG. 6F may be configured to link to a user interface screenshowing all or a portion of the medication schedule generated accordingto step 415 (e.g., by way of the “morning medications” link or the“evening medications” link), according to some embodiments. The userinterface screen of FIG. 6F may be displayed on the caregivercommunication device 132 of the caregiver associated with the home user,so that the caregiver can verify or modify the home user's schedule,including the home user's medication schedule. For example, the userinterface screen of FIG. 6F may be configured to allow the caregiver tocancel scheduled activities, such as canceling a blood sugar testscheduled for 8:30 am. The user interface screen of FIG. 6F may beconfigured to allow the caregiver to verify that the home user has takenhis or her morning medications, and that there are no schedulednoon-time medications.

In provide medication message step 420 of FIG. 5, the data processingdevice system 210 or portion thereof of the system management server 130or the digital companion device 10 is configured to cause theinput-output device system 220 or portion thereof to output to thedigital companion device 10, one or more messages, according to someembodiments. The messages may include (a) one or more messagespertaining to activities of the activity schedule, (b) one or moremedication messages, or both (a) and (b). A medication message mayidentify a particular medication set from the medication schedule to betaken at a particular time period (e.g., such as an immediately upcomingtime period of the time periods in the medication schedule). In someembodiments, the medication message is provided when the current time(determined, for example, by real-time clock 21 in central processor 20in FIG. 2) matches the start time of a medication event in themedication schedule. For example, an evening medication message may beprovided when the current time is 6:00 PM, which matches the eveningmedications start time shown in FIG. 6A. Medication messages mayinstruct the resident home user to take the multiple unrelatedmedications of a medication set during the appropriate or associatedtime window or period, as will be described later in reference to FIG.7B, which illustrates an example of a medication message. According tosome embodiments, the medication messages may include visible messages,such as text, graphic images, video clips, or animations, or may includeor additionally include audio information, such as speech, music, orsound effects.

In embodiments where the data representing the medication scheduleaccommodates multiple home users, as discussed above, the dataprocessing device system 210 or portion thereof of the system managementserver 130 or the digital companion device 10 is configured to cause theinput-output device system 220 or portion thereof to output to thedigital companion device 10, one or more medication messages to each ofat least two different users. For example, if it is 6:00 PM on Thursday,July 18, and both home user “Lucy” and home user “Bob” have to takemedications at that time, a user interface screen like that shown inFIG. 7B may be presented by the display screen 40 of the digitalcompanion device 10 followed by the display of a similar user interfacescreen like that shown in FIG. 7B, but for home user “Bob”. In someembodiments, the digital companion device confirms that the particularuser is receiving the message and taking the medication, for example byperforming face recognition on an image captured by the digitalcompanion device 10 using a camera in the reader 36. However, theinvention is not limited to any particular configuration of providingmultiple medication messages to different users.

FIG. 7A is an example of a “current schedule” user interface screen 300for a particular home user (e.g., Lucy) that may be provided, at leastin part, by the system management server 130, the digital companiondevice 10, or both, and which is configured to be displayed on thedisplay screen 40 of the digital companion device 10 located at theresidence of the particular home user (e.g., Lucy), according to someembodiments. The interface screen 300 of FIG. 7A illustrates aparticular current time of Thursday July 18 at 4:07 pm merely forexample. The “current schedule” user interface screen 300 is configuredto inform the particular home user (e.g., Lucy) about a scheduled “todo” task 302 (e.g., “4:00 PM—Take the trash to the curb”), which may bepart of the previously discussed activities calendar, as well as ascheduled medical related monitoring activity 304 (e.g., “5:30 PM—Testblood sugar before dinner”) and a scheduled medication event 306 (e.g.,“6:00 PM—Evening medications”).

According to some embodiments, the “evening schedule” user interfacescreen 300 in FIG. 7A is configured to display the current weatherconditions 312 (e.g., 88 degrees and cloudy) in the upper right corner,as well as a pictures icon 314 in the lower left corner which, whenselected by the home user, permits the home user to view pictures andvideos which have been shared with the home user by their caregiver, aswell as other relatives and friends who have been granted access toshare content with the home user by the system management server 130.

According to some embodiments, the “evening schedule” user interfacescreen 300 in FIG. 7A displays a number of icons along the left side,including a “home” icon 320, a “phone” icon 322, an “email” icon 324, a“heart” icon 326, and a “more” icon 328. The phone icon 322 may beselected by the home user in order to place a phone call using thedigital companion device 10, for example using internet telephony. Theemail icon 324 may be selected by the home user in order to read emailmessages sent by others, or send email messages, using the digitalcompanion device 10. The heart icon 326 may be selected by the user inorder to lists chronic health items associated with the home user.According to some embodiments, selection of the heart icon 326 enablesthe home user to record, for example, a blood pressure reading at anytime, whether or not a reading is scheduled at the current time If thehealth activity (e.g., blood pressure reading) is performed during atime when it is scheduled, the digital companion device 10 willassociate the health event (e.g., measured blood pressure) with thescheduled event, according to some embodiments.

The more icon 328 may be selected by the user in order to access otherfeatures provided by the digital companion device 10. For example, insome embodiments the more icon 328 may be selected by the user in orderto listen to favorite music or other recorded programs using the digitalcompanion device 10. The home icon 320 may be selected by the user inorder to return to the “current schedule” user interface screen (whichis currently being displayed in FIG. 7A), after another one of the icons322, 324, 326, or 328 has been selected.

FIG. 7B is an example of an “evening medications reminder” userinterface screen 330 for a particular home user 334 (e.g., Lucy) thatmay be provided, at least in part, by the system management server 130,the digital companion device 10, or both, and which is configured to bedisplayed on the display screen 40 of the digital companion device 10located at the residence of the particular home user (e.g., Lucy),according to some embodiments. The interface screen 300 of FIG. 7Bpresents a portion of the medication schedule generated according tostep 415. In this regard, in some embodiments, the data processingdevice system 210 or portion thereof of the system management server 130may be configured to transmit, via a network (e.g., the Internet 120)and a network interface of the input-output device system 220 or portionthereof of the system management server 130, at least a portion of themedication schedule to a remote device (e.g., digital companion device10). In some embodiments, the at least the portion of the medicationschedule received by the remote device (e.g., digital companion indevice 10) facilitates display of a user interface screen like FIG. 7B.

The interface screen 300 of FIG. 7A illustrates a particular currenttime of Thursday July 18 at 6:00 pm merely for example. The “eveningmedications reminder” user interface screen 330 may be configured toprovide a medication message 332 to the user 334 which identifies one ofthe plurality of medication containers (e.g., the Thursday PM container82 in FIG. 8A) which should be removed from the medication containerassembly 80 (FIG. 8A) and positioned so that the identification code(e.g., 92 in FIG. 8B) can be read by the reader 36 of the digitalcompanion device 10.

The example “evening medications reminder” user interface screen 330instructs the home user (e.g., Lucy) to take a medication set of threedifferent unrelated medications, (e.g., a Metformin medication 336A, aTylenol medication 336B, and a Calcium Carbonate medication 336C) duringthe current “evening medication” event time period (e.g., 6:00-6:30).This example also provides instructions on how the medications should betaken (e.g., “Do not crush or chew the tablet” for the Metforminmedication 336A) and dosing instructions (e.g., “1 Capsule” “500 mg” forthe Tylenol medication 336B).

It will be understood that the medications 336A, 336B, and 336C includedin the “evening medications reminder” user interface screen 330 areobtained from the medication schedule described earlier in relation tocreate medication schedule step 415, which was created responsive to themedications which were input by the caregiver as described earlier inrelation to create medication pattern step 410, which are listed in theThu Evening box of the “pillbox view” user interface screen shown inFIG. 6E. It will be further understood that in some embodiments, themedication schedule may be stored in a memory in the digital companiondevice 10 in FIG. 2, such as in non-volatile storage 22 and in someembodiments, the medication schedule may be stored in a storage memoryprovided in a network accessible storage system, such as a hard diskdrive or other memory attached to the system management server 130 inFIG. 4.

As discussed above, in provide medication message step 420 of FIG. 5,the digital companion device 10 (i.e., the data processing device system210 thereof, e.g., central processor 20) is configured to cause itsinput-output device system to output (220 in FIG. 1, e.g., displayscreen 40 or speakers 44) to output a medication message (e.g., all or aportion of FIG. 7B) which identifies a particular medication set of theplurality of medication sets to be taken at a particular time period ofa plurality of time periods of the medication schedule, as well asmedication dosing instructions (e.g., 500 mg of Metformin). In theexample of FIG. 7B, the medication set may be all of the medications336A, 336B, 336C, or a subset of those medications, depending upon theembodiment. It will be understood that the medications are not limitedto pills, but can include, for example, injections, liquids, creams,lotions, drops, and medication patches. The dosing instructions canprovide specific instructions describing, for example, how muchmedication should be consumed (e.g. 1 tablespoon of a liquid), or wherea cream or medication patch should be applied.

In identify medication container step 425 of FIG. 5, the systemmanagement server 130 (i.e., the data processing device system 210thereof) or the digital companion device 10 (i.e., the data processingdevice system 210 thereof) is configured to receive (e.g., via theinput-output-device system 220) an input identification code, e.g., fromthe reader 36 of the digital companion device 10, according to someembodiments. In some embodiments, the reader 36 reads the identificationcode associated with a medication set. For example, the identificationcode may be an RFID tag, a bar code (e.g., 92 in FIG. 8B) or otherindicia, or a magnetic strip, as described earlier in relation to FIG. 2on or integrally formed with a medication container containing themedication set. It will be understood that the digital companion device10 may be configured to instruct the home user concerning how toposition the medication container (e.g., 104 in FIG. 4 or 90 in FIG. 8B)so that the identification code can be properly read by the reader 36 ofthe digital companion device 10.

In “correct container?” test 430 in FIG. 5, the system management server130 (i.e., the data processing device system 210 thereof) or the digitalcompanion device 10 (i.e., the data processing device system 210 (e.g.,central processor 20) thereof) is configured to determine (e.g., via theinput-output-device system 220) whether the input identification codecorresponds to the particular medication set (identified by themedication message from step 420) based upon an analysis of at least aportion of the medication schedule and the input identification codefrom step 425, according to some embodiments. For example, if the inputidentification code matches an identification code previously stored inassociation with the particular medication set in the medicationschedule (e.g., in non-volatile storage 22 in FIG. 2), it is determinedthat the user has selected the correct medication set that needs to betaken at that time at step 430, according to some embodiments. In thiscase, a confirmation message indicating that the correct medication sethas been selected by the user may be presented (e.g., by display 40 oraudio speaker(s) 44) at step 440.

In some embodiments, this confirmation message is provided usingdisplayed text or an audio message, which indicates the name of themedication container selected (e.g., “Correct—Thursday PM”, or“Correct—Metformin”). In some embodiments, the confirmation message alsoprovides dosing instructions. For example, if the medication wasprovided in the form of eye drops, the dosing instructions could remindthe home user of which eye(s) should receive drops, and how many dropsto use. As a second example, if the medication was provided in the formof a cream, the dosing instructions could remind the home user where toapply the cream, and how much cream to apply.

In some embodiments, the user interface screen of FIG. 7D is configuredto allow a user (the home user or a caregiver) to provide manualconfirmation that the home user has taken the medication or medicationsdue to be taken in the present time window. The embodiments of FIG. 7Dshow one example of this manual confirmation with the “I Did It” button,where the user selects such button to provide an indication that theuser has taken the required medication or medications. However, theinvention is not limited to any particular technique for providing suchmanual confirmation. When the user provides such manual confirmation,the data processing device system 210 (e.g., the central processor 20)of the digital companion device 10 receives the input confirmationindicating that a particular medication set has been taken by the homeuser.

In some embodiments, the data processing device system 210 (e.g., thecentral processor 20) of the digital companion device 10 is configuredto then track the home user's taking of the particular medication setalong with earlier-tracked medication sets taken by the home user. Thetracking of medication sets taken by a home user may be performed usingthe data that represents the medication schedule, such that the datathat represents the medication schedule may include one or moreadditional data fields that allow tracking of medication sets taken aswell as respective dosages taken and at what time or times. In thisregard, the data processing device system 210 (e.g., the centralprocessor 20) of the digital companion device 10 is configured to modifythe data that represents the medication schedule to account for theinput confirmation (e.g., from the selecting of the “I Did It” button inFIG. 7D).

In some embodiments, this tracking is performed at least in part by thesystem management server 130. In this regard, the data processing devicesystem 210 (e.g., the central processor 20) of the digital companiondevice 10 may be configured to transmit, via the network interface 34and the Internet 120 to the system management server 130, the inputconfirmation, which provides the system management server 130 with anindication of the home user taking the required medication set (e.g.,shown in whole or part in FIG. 7D), which may be in accordance with theat least a portion of the medication schedule transmitted by the systemmanagement server 130 to the digital companion device 10 (e.g., to formthe interface screen of FIG. 7D). When the system management server 130tracks or records the medication sets taken by the home user, thecaregiver or caregivers for that home user may view such informationthat the respective caregiver communication devices 132 to understand ifthe home user is properly taking his or her medications.

In this regard, in some embodiments, the input-confirmation transmittedfrom the digital companion device 10 to the system management server 130is forwarded or otherwise provided by the digital companion device 10 orthe system management server 130 to one or more caregiver communicationdevices 132 to inform the caregiver that the home user has taken therequired medication set.

Returning to the user interface screen of FIG. 7D, such screen shows,for example, that the home user took his or her Thursday eveningmedications at 6:15 PM. The home user may press the “close” icon shownin FIG. 7D in order to return to the current schedule display screen,such as an updated version of the current schedule user interface screenshown in FIG. 7A. As discussed above, in some embodiments, themedication schedule data stored in a processor-accessible memory devicesystem 230 (such as non-volatile storage 22) is updated to indicate thatthe user has selected, taken, or selected and taken the correctmedication.

In some embodiments, a home user may take an unscheduled “on-demand”medication, such as a pain-relieving medication that a home user isinstructed to take as needed. Typically, such medications have anallowable maximum dosage within a time period. In this regard, the dataprocessing device system 210 or portion thereof of the system managementserver 130 or the digital companion device 10 may be configured to trackon-demand medications taken by the home user to ensure that he or shedoes not exceed the allowable maximum dosage within the time period. Forexample, in some embodiments, the data processing device system 210 orportion thereof of the system management server 130 or the digitalcompanion device 10 is configured to receive, via the input-outputdevice system 220 or portion thereof (e.g., reader 36), an inputidentification code determined to correspond to an on-demand medication.In response to the determination that the input identification codecorresponds to the on-demand medication, such data processing devicesystem 210 or portion thereof may be configured to output dosinginstructions for the on-demand medication, optionally in light oftracked earlier dosages of the on-demand medication taken by the userwithin a time period. For example, assume that the on-demand medicationis ibuprofen (with respective 200 mg tablets), and the maximumrecommended dosage within a day (an example of the time period) is 2,400mg (or 12 tablets). Also assume that the home user has already taken 6tablets in 12 hours within the day. In this case, the dosinginstructions may indicate that the home user should take no more than 2tablets at the present time and no more than 6 tablets within the next12 hours.

In some embodiments, the data processing device system 210 or portionthereof of the system management server 130 or the digital companiondevice 10 is configured to receive, via the input-output device system220 or portion thereof, input confirmation indicating that the on-demandmedication has been taken by the home user (e.g., by a button such asthe “I Did It” button shown in FIG. 7D). In response to receiving thisinput confirmation, the data processing device system 210 or portionthereof of the system management server 130 or the digital companiondevice 10 may be configured to store an indication of the on-demandmedication, a present dosage taken by the home user, and a time at whichthe present dosage of the on-demand medication was taken by the user.Such a configuration allows tracking of the on-demand medications andrespective dosages taken for later viewing, e.g., by the caregiver, thehome user, or a physician. Such a configuration also facilitatesprevention of the home user taking access dosages of the on-demandmedication.

In this regard, the data processing device system 210 or portion thereofof the system management server 130 or the digital companion device 10may be configured to retrieve earlier dosages of the on-demandmedication taken by the user within a time period; and determine whetherthe earlier dosages of the on-demand medication taken by the user, iftaken with an additional present dosage of the on-demand medicationwithin the time period, would exceed a maximum dosage. If so, the dataprocessing device system 210 or portion thereof of the system managementserver 130 or the digital companion device 10 may be configured tooutput a warning message indicating access medication dosage. Thewarning message may be output to the display screen 40 of the digitalcompanion device 10, to the speakers 44 of the digital companion device10, to the system management server 130, to a caregiver communicationdevice 132, or a combination of any or all of these devices. Forinstance, following the above ibuprofen example, if the home-userscanned in an identification code associated with ibuprofen to indicatethat the home user would like to take an additional present dose ofibuprofen two hours after taking the previous dose of ibuprofen, thedigital companion device 10 may output a message indicating that thehome user must wait two more hours before taking the additional presentthose.

If the input identification code does not correspond to the previouslystored identification code associated with the particular medication setat step 430, it is determined that the user has selected an incorrectmedication set, according to some embodiments. In this case, at step 435according to some embodiments, the system management server 130 (i.e.,the data processing device system 210 thereof) or the digital companiondevice 10 (i.e., the data processing device system 210 thereof) may beconfigured to output (e.g., via the input-output-device system 220) awarning (e.g., by display 40 or audio speaker(s) 44). For example, the“incorrect container” warning message may warn the user that anincorrect medication container has been selected, and indicate whichmedication container should be used. In some embodiments, the datastored in the storage memory for the particular home user (such asnon-volatile storage 22) is updated to indicate that the user has failedto select the correct medication container.

FIG. 7C depicts an example of a warning message user interface screenfor a particular home user (e.g., Lucy) which is displayed on thedisplay screen 40 of the digital companion device 10 located at theresidence of the particular home user, according to some embodiments.The warning message warns the home user that the wrong medicationcontainer has been selected, and instructs the user to select the propercontainer (e.g., the Thursday evening container 82). In someembodiments, the warning message may include an audio warning or avisually varying warning (e.g., a flashing red light).

In some embodiments, in response to it being determined that the inputidentification code does not correspond to the previously storedidentification code associated with the particular medication set atstep 430, the data processing device system 230 or portion thereof(e.g., central processor 20) of the digital companion device 10 isconfigured to determine whether the input identification code isassociated with another home user based upon an analysis of the datarepresenting the medication schedule. For example, assume that a portionof the medication schedule data appears as shown in Table I below:

TABLE I User Medication Name Identification Code Lucy Metformin 129528Lucy Tylenol 564816 Lucy Calcium Carbonate 816305 Bob Iron 162554(It should be noted that the medication schedule would includeadditional data than that shown in Table I, including additionalmedications for Lucy as shown in FIG. 6E and additional data fields(columns) as shown in FIG. 6C. In addition, it should be noted that themedication schedule need not be represented as a two-dimensional table,and the invention is not limited to any particular data structure forstoring or representing the medication schedule.) In the example ofTable I, if the digital companion device 10 (i.e., the data processingdevice system thereof) is expecting to receive an identification codeassociated with Lucy (e.g., any of codes 129528, 564816, 816305), butinstead receives input identification code 162554, the digital companiondevice 10 (i.e., the data processing device system thereof) may beconfigured to not only determine that the input identification code doesnot correspond to an expected medication set associated with user“Lucy”, but also to determine that the input identification codecorresponds to a different user, in this example, “Bob”. In thissituation, the digital companion device 10 may be configured to output amessage indicating an incorrect user, such as, e.g., by presenting avisual, audio, or visual and audio message that Lucy may have improperlyselected Bob's medication.

In some embodiments, in response to it being determined that the inputidentification code does not correspond to the previously storedidentification code associated with the particular medication set atstep 430, the data processing device system 230 or portion thereof(e.g., central processor 20) of the digital companion device 10 isconfigured to transmit, via a network (e.g., Internet 120) and a networkinterface (e.g., 34), a warning message to a remote device (e.g.,caregiver communication device 132, either directly or via the systemmanagement server 130). Such a configuration allows a caregiver to benotified when the home user has selected an incorrect medication set. Insome embodiments, this morning message may be an e-mail, SMS message,phone call, or any other type of electronic communication. In thisregard, in some embodiments, in response to its being determined thatthe input identification code does not correspond to the previouslystored identification code associated with the particular medication setat step 430, the data processing device system 230 or portion thereof(e.g., central processor 20) of the digital companion device 10 isconfigured to establish, via a network (e.g., Internet 120) and anetwork interface (e.g., 34), a communicative connection with a remotedevice (e.g., caregiver communication device 132, either directly or viathe system management server 130). In some embodiments, thecommunicative connection establishes a videoconference or phone callwith a caregiver, which may allow the caregiver to help the home userselect the proper medication.

After providing the warning message in provide warning message step 435,the process returns to identify medication container step 425, todetermine if the home use has selected another medication container,according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, if the home userrepeatedly fails to select the correct container (e.g., if “correctcontainer?” test 430 provides several (e.g., 3 or more) “no” responses)a message may be sent to the caregiver communication device(s) 132associated with the caregiver associated with the particular home user,to inform the caregiver that the home user has been unable to select theproper medication container. This permits the caregiver to provideassistance to the home user, via videoconference or phone call asdescribed above, or in person, as necessary.

It will be understood in some embodiments, medications for the home userare stored in individual containers, as described earlier in referenceto FIG. 8B. In such embodiments, provide medication message step 420,identify medication container step 425, and “correct container?” test430 may be repeated multiple times, once for each different medicationto be taken by the home user during the current medication event (e.g.,three times for the three different medications 336A, 336B, and 336C inthe example shown in FIG. 7B.)

It will be understood that in some embodiments, the digital companiondevice 10 may be configured to provide medication management for two ormore different users. In this situation, the storage memory (such asnon-volatile storage 22) stores data which identifies at least twodifferent users and a plurality of medications to be taken by the twodifferent users according particular schedules for the two differentusers. In this situation, the digital companion device 10 providesdifferent medication messages to each of the users. The medicationmessages may include the name or photo of the different users, asdescribed earlier.

It will be understood that in some embodiments, rather than using amedication identifier on a medication container, the digital companiondevice 10 may be configured to identify the medication by capturing andanalyzing an image of the actual medication. The medication may beidentified, for example, by analyzing the size, color, shape, oridentification codes on the medication.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be understoodthat variations and modifications may be effected within the scope ofthe invention. The present specification and figures are accordingly tobe regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

Subsets or combinations of various embodiments described above providefurther embodiments. These and other changes can be made to theinvention in light of the above-detailed description and still fallwithin the scope of the present invention. In general, in the followingclaims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the invention tothe specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims.Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the disclosure, but insteadits scope is to be determined entirely by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A medication management system comprising: afirst medication container assembly including a first plurality ofindividual medication containers, the first plurality of individualmedication containers configured to retain a first plurality ofmedication sets, the first medication container assembly associated witha first patient, the first plurality of individual medication containersrespectively including a first plurality of computer-readableidentification codes, each individual medication container of the firstplurality of individual medication containers including a respectivecomputer-readable identification code of the first plurality ofcomputer-readable identification codes that is different than everyother computer-readable identification code of the first plurality ofcomputer-readable identification codes, each individual medicationcontainer of the first plurality of individual medication containersconfigured to retain a respective medication set of the first pluralityof medication sets, and each medication set of at least one medicationset of the first plurality of medication sets includes a respectivegroup of different types of medications; a second medication containerassembly including a second plurality of individual medicationcontainers, the second plurality of individual medication containersconfigured to retain a second plurality of medication sets, the secondmedication container assembly associated with a second patient, thesecond plurality of individual medication containers of the secondmedication container assembly respectively including a second pluralityof computer-readable identification codes, each individual medicationcontainer of the second plurality of individual medication containersincluding a respective computer-readable identification code of thesecond plurality of computer-readable identification codes that isdifferent than every other computer-readable identification code of thesecond plurality of computer-readable identification codes, the secondplurality of computer-readable identification codes mutually exclusivewith the first plurality of computer-readable identification codes ofthe first medication container assembly, and each individual medicationcontainer of the second plurality of individual medication containersconfigured to retain a respective medication set of the second pluralityof medication sets; and a computer system physically distinct from thefirst medication container assembly and the second medication containerassembly and comprising an input-output device system, aprocessor-accessible memory device system storing a program, and a dataprocessing device system communicatively connected to theprocessor-accessible memory device system and the input-output devicesystem, wherein the data processing device system is configured by theprogram at least to: receive a first input identification code via theinput-output device system; perform a comparison of the first inputidentification code to at least one code of the first plurality ofcomputer-readable identification codes and the second plurality ofcomputer-readable identification codes; and cause the input-outputdevice system to transmit information indicating a result of thecomparison.
 2. The medication management system of claim 1, wherein thedata processing device system is configured by the program at least tostore, in the processor-accessible memory device system, the firstplurality of computer-readable identification codes respectively inassociation with a first plurality of medication taking events andrespectively in association with the first plurality of medication sets.3. The medication management system of claim 2, wherein each medicationtaking event of the first plurality of medication taking events isdifferent than every other medication taking event of the firstplurality of medication taking events, and wherein the first pluralityof medication taking events respectively are associated with the firstplurality of medication sets, which are respectively associated with thefirst plurality of individual medication containers.
 4. The medicationmanagement system of claim 3, wherein the data processing device systemis configured by the program at least to store, in theprocessor-accessible memory device system, the second plurality ofcomputer-readable identification codes respectively in association witha second plurality of medication taking events and respectively inassociation with the second plurality of medication sets.
 5. Themedication management system of claim 4, wherein each medication takingevent of the second plurality of medication taking events is differentthan every other medication taking event of the second plurality ofmedication taking events, and wherein the second plurality of medicationtaking events respectively are associated with the second plurality ofmedication sets, which are respectively associated with the secondplurality of individual medication containers.
 6. The medicationmanagement system of claim 2, wherein the data processing device systemis configured by the program at least to store, in theprocessor-accessible memory device system, the second plurality ofcomputer-readable identification codes respectively in association witha second plurality of medication taking events and respectively inassociation with the second plurality of medication sets.
 7. Themedication management system of claim 2, wherein the data processingdevice system is configured by the program at least to associate, in theprocessor-accessible memory device system, the respective group ofdifferent types of medications in the processor-accessible memory devicesystem with a single respective computer-readable identification codeassociated with a respective individual medication container configuredto retain the respective group of different types of medications, thesingle respective computer-readable identification code being from thefirst plurality of computer-readable identification codes, and therespective individual medication container being from the firstplurality of individual medication containers.
 8. The medicationmanagement system of claim 2, wherein each individual medicationcontainer of the first plurality of individual medication containers isassociated with a time window within a 24-hour period, each time windowassociated in the processor-accessible memory device system with arespective medication taking event of the first plurality of medicationtaking events, as well as a start time and an end time.
 9. Themedication management system of claim 2, wherein the data processingdevice system is configured by the program at least to store, in theprocessor-accessible memory device system, a first medication takingevent of the first plurality of medication taking events in associationwith a first dosage of a first medication, and to store, in theprocessor-accessible memory device system, a second medication takingevent of the first plurality of medication taking events in associationwith a second dosage of the first medication.
 10. The medicationmanagement system of claim 1, wherein the data processing device systemis configured by the program at least to store, in theprocessor-accessible memory device system and in a state in which atleast two medication sets of the first plurality of medication setsinclude an identical medication, different computer-readableidentification codes of the first plurality of computer-readableidentification codes in association with the at least two medicationsets of the first plurality of medication sets, respectively.
 11. Themedication management system of claim 1, wherein the data processingdevice system is configured by the program at least to: receive, via theinput-output device system, computer-readable identification credentialsassociated with an identification badge and a caregiver; and store, inresponse to receiving the computer-readable identification credentials,information in the processor-accessible memory device system confirmingmedical attention provided on a particular day and time by thecaregiver.
 12. The medication management system of claim 1, wherein thedata processing device system is configured by the program at least totransmit a message indicating the result of the comparison to a remotecaregiver computer system.
 13. The medication management system of claim1, wherein the data processing device system is configured by theprogram at least to: receive, via the input-output device system, asecond input identification code; determine that the second inputidentification code corresponds to an on-demand medication; and receiveinput confirmation, via the input-output device system and in responseto it being determined that the second input identification codecorresponds to the on-demand medication, the input confirmationindicating that the on-demand medication has been taken.
 14. Themedication management system of claim 13, wherein the data processingdevice system is configured by the program at least to store, in theprocessor-accessible memory device system, an indication of theon-demand medication, a present dosage taken of the on-demandmedication, and a time at which the present dosage of the on-demandmedication was taken, in response to receiving the input confirmation.15. The medication management system of claim 1, wherein the dataprocessing device system is configured by the program at least to:receive, via the input-output device system, a second inputidentification code; determine that the second input identification codecorresponds to an on-demand medication; determine that a maximum dosageof the on-demand medication within a time period would be exceeded; andcause the input-output device system to output a warning message inresponse to it being determined that the maximum dosage of the on-demandmedication within the time period would be exceeded.
 16. The medicationmanagement system of claim 1, wherein the processor-accessible memorydevice system associates a first medication container of the firstplurality of individual medication containers with a first time windowof a first type on a first day of a week, and associates a secondmedication container of the first plurality of individual medicationcontainers with a second time window of the first type on a second dayof the week, the second day of the week different than the first day ofthe week, wherein the processor-accessible memory device systemassociates the first time window of the first type on the first day ofthe week with a first period of time within a 24-hour period, andwherein the processor-accessible memory device system associates thesecond time window of the first type on the second day of the week witha second period of time within a 24-hour period, the second period oftime different than the first period of time.
 17. The medicationmanagement system of claim 16, wherein the first type is a morning timewindow type or an evening time window type.